1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electrical safety equipment and more particularly to a childproof electrical plug.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The enhanced quality of life enjoyed today has been brought about to a great extent by the revolution in the electrical and electronics field. The vast majority of the products that have raised our standard of living are consumer items that are used in and around the home. This being the case, most of these items operate from electrical current distributed around the house via a very conventional and known system utilizing hard wire, fuses and electrical outlets. The electrical outlets, as a general rule, are located in a wall approximately eighteen inches above the floor. This is a convenient location for children and provides easy access to the mischievous child or the simply curious child to place pins or the like into the outlet or on the other hand to remove leads already plugged into the outlet. Either situation constitutes a potentially hazard condition which needs the attention of both parents and the industry.
The above condition has not been ignored and a number of U.S. Patents have issued which attempt to provide a solution to the electrical outlet versus child conflict which continues to over shadow the convenience of modern gadgetry.
The U.S. Patents which are considered relevant and of which Applicant is aware include, U.S. Pat. No. 3,890,025 issued Jun. 17, 1975 to Gray for an electrical plug lock which utilizes a rotating cam within the ground connector to lock the plug within the female receptacle in the wall outlet. The U.S. Pat. No. 4,111,509 issued Sep. 5, 1978 to Novak is another electrical plug lock where the ground connector is expanded by a centrally positioned member that is attached to a threaded knob and retracts the end of the prong by turning the knob. U.S. Pat. No. 5,082,450 issued Jan. 21, 1992 to Warren, Sr. et al discloses a safety plug with plug prongs that move between an extended and a retracted state. In addition the ground prong contains a spring that extends without the prong and in some manner engages the receptacle locking the plug in place. In 1993 Propp was issued a U.S. Pat. No. 5,194,013 dated Mar. 16, 1993 for a plug lock that utilizes an internally threaded ground plug and a similarly threaded shaft with a cone shaped end that is drawn into the ground prong and causes it to expand against the sides of the female receptacle. U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,976 to Brock issued Oct. 5, 1993 for an electrical plug locking means is designed and adapted to be used with a heavier duty plug that includes a U-shaped ground blade and adds a member with a serrated edge rotated to engage the female receptacle.
The prior art fails to anticipate the childproof electrical plug of this invention, a substantial improvement in the state of the art.